In Papua New Guinea, traditional musical instruments exhibit considerable diversity, not only in form but also in the uses to which they are put, in their social and ceremonial importance, and - perhaps most notably - in the meanings that may be attributed to their sounds. In each culture some instruments are likely to be nothing more than objects for personal amusement or even toys for chilren, while others may be endowed with symbolic value and religious impact.
In the former category, the most often encountered are shell whistles, jew's harps, musical bows, smaller varieties of bamboo flutes including the so-called nose-flute, and sometimes pan-pipes. In the second category are a number of other instruments that serve complex functions in the social and ceremonial lives of their owners. Some transmit messages; some are featured accompaniments for religious ceremonies, funerals, initiations, preparations for warfare and similar ritual activities; some emit sounds that symbolize or are perhaps in themselves believed to possess supernatural qualities and powers. The most prominent instruments in this group are drums, flutes, trumpets, pipes, gongs and bullroarers.
In Tangu, Madang District, almost every social event is announced on the slit-gong. So much so, that understanding its messages is in large measure tantamount to understanding the Tangu way of life. A complex signalling system, in which every Tangu person, pig, and place has a distinctive call-sign, enables these people to transmit a full reportoire of precise announcements - a ritual feat is in the offering, someone's wife has died and so on. In the Eastern Highlands,flutes are paramount symbols of all that men hold dear: their dominant roles as males, solidarity and continuity of their descent groups, past glories and future prosperity. The symbolic nature of the instruments is underscored by linguistic usages equating them with birds and by extension, spirits. In keeping with their sacred character, flutes are blown only by men and only at specified times. Among the Gimi people of the Labogai region, the playing of flutes is a crucial feature of every initiation. Pig festivals are another occasion calling for the blowing of flutes. Although this sometimes takes place in broad daylight, women and children know that they must not look, or in any event must not be caught looking, when the " spirits " arrive.
Source: Ryan,P.( Gen. ed ) 1972.Encyclopaedia of Papua and New Guinea. Vol.2 L-Z .Melbourne University Press. Melbourne.
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